Prosecutors told a judge in Cleveland on Friday that attorney Anthony Calabrese III orchestrated the plan. Calabrese pleaded not guilty.

He's already charged with racketeering and bribery in an unrelated case that's part of a lengthy investigation of county government corruption in Cleveland. An indictment alleges he paid a county worker to influence commissioners' choice of a new administration building.

A federal court filing says Calabrese plans to plead guilty in that case next month.